I’ve raised this before when Eliezer made the point, and I’ll raise it again:
There most certainly is truth to “Suicide bombers are cowardly”. Someone who chooses to believe a sweet, comforting lie, and go to the grave rather than face the possibility of having to deal with being wrong, is cowardly, or the term has no meaning. They might have been less cowardly with respect to their lives, but they were absolutely more cowardly with respect to their intellectual integrity. And FWIW, American soldiers who meet all of that are just as cowardly.
Most people making the “Suicide bombers are cowardly” argument, are doing so for the wrong reason. Doesn’t make them wrong.
For that matter, many in Islamic countries do hate the West for its freedoms: they often do not accept the freedom to criticize Islam, and often go to great lengths to punish such blasphemers. As freedom of speech, including anti-religious speech, is considered an important freedom, that criticism is at least partially right.
The truth of the matter is something more like, “Many (not all) in Islamic countries hate Western freedoms … but not enough to commit acts of terrorism unless and until the West forcefully intervenes in their countries.”
I’ve raised this before when Eliezer made the point, and I’ll raise it again:
There most certainly is truth to “Suicide bombers are cowardly”. Someone who chooses to believe a sweet, comforting lie, and go to the grave rather than face the possibility of having to deal with being wrong, is cowardly, or the term has no meaning. They might have been less cowardly with respect to their lives, but they were absolutely more cowardly with respect to their intellectual integrity. And FWIW, American soldiers who meet all of that are just as cowardly.
Most people making the “Suicide bombers are cowardly” argument, are doing so for the wrong reason. Doesn’t make them wrong.
For that matter, many in Islamic countries do hate the West for its freedoms: they often do not accept the freedom to criticize Islam, and often go to great lengths to punish such blasphemers. As freedom of speech, including anti-religious speech, is considered an important freedom, that criticism is at least partially right.
The truth of the matter is something more like, “Many (not all) in Islamic countries hate Western freedoms … but not enough to commit acts of terrorism unless and until the West forcefully intervenes in their countries.”